Honda Jazz to take on Swift & Getz

NEW DELHI: Honda’s first small car for India, Jazz, would make its first appearance at the Tokyo Motor show in October this year. The product, which is expected to be launched in a tweaked form in India to take advantage of the taxation structure, is most likely to come strapped with a diesel engine.

The new Jazz will take on Swift and Getz. Honda Siel Cars India’s chairman and CEO Masahiro Takedagawa has already indicated that the company’s small cars would be positioned to fit into the lower excise duty bracket. As per the excise duty structure, small cars with a certain specification of engine capacity and length attract lower tax of 16% as against 24% for bigger cars. Jazz might sport a 1.5-litre diesel engine to draw excise benefits. Traditionally, Honda is known for pricing its product on the higher side. However, the company will have to change its stand as it treads into the compact segment, say auto analysts.

“The B and the B+ segment cars do not provide high margin. To be able to make money in these segments, any auto maker would have to price its products aggressively to grab large volumes,” says PriceWaterhouse partner Abdul Majeed. Given the competition from Getz and Swift, Jazz is likely to sport a price tag of Rs 4.6-5.6 lakh to draw big volumes in the segment. While Jazz will hit the Indian roads in 2009, another small car from the Honda stable, designed for the Indian market, will be launched in the country thereafter. This model would be launched one notch lower in the B-segment and would compete with the likes of Hyundai Santro, Tata Indica and Maruti Wagon R.

Honda’s second Indian car plant, which is coming up at Takapura in Rajasthan, would manufacture the next generation Jazz. The initial capacity of plant would be 60,000 units which will be more than tripled to 2 lakh units over time. Honda’s second small car for India is also expected to be manufactured in the Takapura plant after its capacity is enhanced.